Clear Text Comes to LSC

1/31/08

By Ben Holbrook
Managing Editor

LSC’s emergency warning system, Clear Text, is now being implemented in order to warn students quickly using cell phones if there was a problem.

Clear Text is a warning system that is able to notify a large number of people quickly if there is an emergency. LSC uses Clear Text to send messages to your cell phone but it is not limited to only phones. Clear Text can be used with email and desktop, according to the Clear Text user guide. This system is only one component of the safety procedures on campus, said George Hacking, director of public safety.

At the moment only about 100 students have signed up for Clear Text notifications, said Hacking. To sign up for Clear Text you can go to http://lyndonstate.cleartxt.com/. The sign up process is very simple and only requires your name, email address, cell phone carrier service, and your cell phone number.

Besides using Clear Text, LSC also uses a phone tree to notify specific individuals who then alert classrooms as safety permits. Clear Text has limitations since not everybody uses a cell phone and often times professors require students to turn off any cell phones during class. The Clear Text system is also not compatible with track phones.

LSC chose to use Clear Text because of price, said Hacking. The program that LSC chose allows for 10 uses, which costs $250. If the school used five or six warnings then the package would be upgraded however, “we don’t expect to use all 10,” said Hacking.

LSC would only use Clear Text for actual emergencies although other colleges use it for all notifications like class cancellations.

“At the end of the year we may re-evaluate it,” said Hacking. Systems like Clear Text need to be evaluated every six to twelve months, said Hacking. Ideally Hacking would, “love to have a loud speaker system around campus.”

A loudspeaker system would cost between $50,000 and $75,000, which is too expensive at the moment. The school would look into other things that can piggyback on existing infrastructure.

Since Clear Text is only one component of an emergency system, the most likely next step would be to put speakers up around campus, said Hacking. A built in video system would also be a possibility. The school’s biggest challenge is trying to stay current on what is available and what can be afforded.